Darkness in the Dungeon
by haunted-eternity
Summary: Belle goes from one dungeon to another. Regina's is more cursed. Making her think about the man who says he no longer wants her. Hint of Rumbelle.


She had been walking aimlessly on the road, wrapped in a dark cloak that was dark as night. It was different than the one she last ventured out in. Instead of the green and blue coloured, ornate cloak she had adorned when she first walked to town on this road, it was black. The only colour was the gold pin that brought the cloak together over her shoulders. The gold coloured rose glimmered, even on the cloudy, ominous day as she walked away. If one looked closer at her cloak, they'd notice the pin was not the only hint of colour. The detail was hidden in the dark colour. There was gold thread, woven throughout the black fabric. The golden coloured thread, spun from Rumplestiltskin's own spinning wheel, fashioned into roses. Vines and vines of detailed roses. Magic had made it somehow, of that she was certain. She didn't see him make it, but she could feel the magic, his magic, running through the cloak. He presented it to her with a flourish, magically casting off her other cloak from her shoulders one day when she was going to watch the animals just beyond the entrance to the Dark Castle. She had smiled as his hands clapped once when she curtsied her thanks. He had told her it would protect her, protect what was his. She had felt the presence of magic until she escaped the the limits of his kingdom. The day he told her to leave.

She had felt his presence lingering in the background as she gathered a few of her trinkets before leaving forever. They were small, but meaningful to her. Meaningful to the relationship that went beyond master and caretaker. Although, he would never notice because he always shrugged off his gifts he presented her. As she tied the bag off with a blue ribbon, he was waiting for her in the shadows of the entrance to the Dark Castle. He was waiting with the black cloak in his arms. If she was going to leave, like he wished her to, she could at least take a small part of what they had with her. Her eyes watered but shed no tears as he once again looked just beyond her, never making eye contact. For that would beShe knew the moment she had exited the protected field. The magic briefly holding her before releasing her out into the Dark Forest. She paused in the roadway, looking behind her at the Dark Castle. The ominous, steep, sharp mountaintops hid all but the towers from view. She wondered if Rumplestiltskin was watching from the tallest tower, where his potions lay. She wanted to go back. She had promised him forever in exchange for her people's safety. He would rescind his offer and bring the ogres back. Starting in the direction back to the Dark Castle, she was going to convince him not to throw her away. Even if she could not kiss him, she could at least be with him, keep him company in the castle too large for a single person.

She heard a strange noise off in the distance and it was nearing. She only had a brief flicker of hope before she realised it was only a horse, Rumplestiltskin was not coming for her. After all, it was headed to the Dark Castle and not from the Dark Castle. But before she could turn to clear the path to let the horses by, a force wrapped itself around her frame, keeping her from moving any further. As she was hoisted into the air by the force, she heard a familiar laugh. One she had only heard once, but it was recognisable since she knew only a few people outside the Dark Castle. The woman came to stand in front of her, her arm extended, the magic radiating off her form. Belle's last thought she had out in the open was she never should have trusted the woman in all black; the woman with the red-stained lips; the woman Rumplestiltskin called the Queen.

She didn't know how long she had been up here. She had simply gone from one dungeon to another without a sense of the day or time. There was a small window, an opening, protected by magic. She only knew of the magic because when she neared the window, a slight hum would become more pronounced. She wondered if anyone else knew. Granted, she did not have many visitors. Just one. The Evil Queen. Regina. Belle wondered if she could sense the magic because of her association with Rumplestiltskin. The quiet hum was the same one she felt when she stepped into his personal space. When she had chosen to take a seat close to him on the long table or his spinning wheel. When she had kissed him, turning him for a moment, she felt the spark of magic humming from his form to hers. A slight tingle still burned into her skin when she touched her fingers to her lips. She wondered if realising she was trapped by magic was a blessing or curse thanks to her former master and lover. The one and only person she would like to go back to. The one person she had attempted to go back to, even though he had thrown her out of the Dark Castle. Foiled only by the woman in black that captured her within the Dark Castle's outskirts.

The small opening, however nice it seemed, was a curse in itself. Unlike the Dark Castle, where she could see the various seasons go by, where the sun rose and set; the Queen's castle was foreboding. The dark haze that covered the sky made day and night impossible to distinguish. When she looked out, there was barren land for miles. Darkness shrouding the barren landscape, hugging the jagged cliffs and mountain edges. The life within this castle's boundary was desolate. The trees grew leafless, sharp black branches grew barren and bended to the Queen's magic. This was more the Dark Castle than her former castle, in the sense of dark being desolate and barren. Only when she closed her eyes, could she see the rising and setting of the sun. Sunsets were always her favourite, looking out beyond the castle walls, a quiet creaking in the background as Rumplestiltskin sat at his spinning wheel, spinning straw into gold he rarely used. Looking out the large window panes from the Dark Castle as the sun plunged itself onto the sharp mountaintops that surrounded Rumple's abode. The orange and pink glow casting the colours into the Great Room. Once, she had caught him staring openly at her as the setting sun cast its light onto her fair skin. She only turned to see what had stopped the familiar creaking sound. When he didn't look away as she caught him, she gave a small smile to him before she turned away. The spinning resumed moments later, slower, she noticed. As she tired, she would close her eyes and think of the sunsets she watched from the Dark Castle. She would wrap herself in the cloak Regina had allowed her to keep. Her fingers playing with a simple piece of straw until her eyelids grew heavy and she cast herself into a fitful sleep. The sunsets in her mind, one of few pleasures she now remembered as she lay alone, surrounded by grey stone walls.

The Queen mocked her, even from afar. Locked in a tower, no companions, only a small opening to look at. A chamber pot to one side, a bed she'd hardly call a bed, off to the other side. The bed in view of the mirror stationed perpendicular to the heavy door. The floor was covered in straw, the sheets a muted gold. The gold covered by a black cloak. The magic gone, no longer humming through her as she wore the cloak, though the gold thread was still woven into the same delicate pattern it always had. Belle knew the Queen did this to remind her of the time she spent in the Dark Castle. She would never let the woman see how much simple straw and the cloak could affect her. She'd never let her fingers be in sight of the mirror when she picked up a few straws of hay, and spin them against her fingers, silently calling out for Rumplestiltskin to deal her a new fortune. She knew he wouldn't come. He couldn't hear her. She was under the Queen's magic now, the curse too powerful for Rumplestiltskin to hear her call his name.

The Queen was always watching. Even when she didn't make the journey up the tower herself, Belle knew she was always watching. It was why Rumplestiltskin covered the mirrors. She thought he had found himself ugly, a monster. But he was hiding his life from the real monster; the real evil of the land; the Evil Queen. She never knew when the mirror was activated, she never knew when the Queen saw fit to laugh at her. She huddled in the corner across from the window, almost behind the door. She spun the straw endlessly between her fingers, hoping to forget like Rumplestiltskin did when he was at the spinning wheel. The heavy door was lifted and Belle looked from the window to the doorway, hiding the piece of straw behind her back. Belle noticed the red stripe in the Queen's hair was now a muted pink. Different from the bright, blood red colour she had the first time they met along the road. Belle stood slowly, the fabric of her dress scraping gently against the stones behind her. She relished the feeling as the Queen stepped fully into the small room.

"Hoping to turn the straw to gold?" Regina asked.

Belle stayed quiet, dropping the piece of straw behind her back, onto the ground once more.

"You never answer. Quiet as a church mouse. Perhaps if I talk about the Dark One, you won't be so quiet. Hmm?" Regina asked as she paced once around the door frame, heaving the door closed with magic. "I should kill you for your insolence. After all, I've done more with people who have less value."

Belle made a quiet noise in the back of her throat as the Queen held her against the wall with a flick of her wrist.

"What will you do with me?" Belle asked.

"She speaks," Regina said.

Regina smiled wickedly at the fair maiden before her. She gave a laugh before releasing the hold her magic had on the young woman. Her fingers waved in the air and she noticed Belle's frightened look. The only emotion Belle had given to her in a month.

Belle clasped her wrists over her heart to protect her chest. Somehow, she recalled from the readings in her Papa's kingdom, the Evil Queen liked hearts.

"I have no use for you, my dear," the Queen smiled. Her lips, stained blood red, bloomed in a smirk to reveal perfect white teeth.

"What will happen to me?" Belle wondered. If she was not a captive and not a servant, what was she doing here.

"You're a simple pawn in my game. A piece I need to defeat the one man more powerful than me," Regina smiled.

"What are you going to do with him?" Belle asked.

"Why should I tell you, dear?" Regina wondered.

"What's the harm? I'm not going anywhere. At least that much is clear," Belle stated.

"A smart one. Rumple does know how to pick them," Regina smiled. "If you must know, I will tell him you're dead. If he simply uncovered the mirror in the Great Room, I'd allow you to watch the show. I have no doubt it will be entertaining: stringing him along, then telling him of your demise. He'll believe every word of it, too. He won't come looking for you anymore like he has been."

Belle swallowed the lump in her throat. Suddenly, she was glad Rumplestiltskin kept his life hidden from this evil woman. It may harden Rumplestiltskin's small heart, already filled with grief from his missing son; but it would kill her to watch Rumplestiltskin as he learned of her death. However deceitful it may be, she would still not want to watch him believe the lie.

"No," Belle said quietly. "Leave him alone."

"My dear," Regina began. "When I tell him you are dead, he's going to ignore the world and leave me to be the most powerful in the realm. When he finds his true love has thrown herself off a tower, he'll be broken. And that's when I can finally enact the curse. He'll get sloppy, get himself captured as he makes a deal. The imp always did have a temper. It's going to catch up to him soon enough."

Belle's eyes closed at the thought. Regina's voice had changed when she had spoken of true love. But she couldn't focus on that right now.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Belle asked. "Why keep me alive? Why not kill us both and enact your power with us gone?"

"Because you are a far better pawn alive than dead. Especially for what I have planned," Regina smirked. She opened the door again with a simple flick of her wrist.

"You'll never be more powerful than him," Belle said as her parting shot as Regina walked through the door. "You're going to regret this."

Regina's laughter was the last thing Belle heard, before the heavy doors closed around her again. She listened as the horses and carriage were arranged just outside her view. The magic would be used to transport her just outside the Dark Castle. No doubt Belle would be retold the story of what Rumplestiltskin did in Regina's presence.

A short time later, she sat up on her bed, staring at the mirror. Her heart pulsed quickly and ached. The sharp pain was sudden, the single straw of hay in her grasp, broke at the pressure her fingers forced on it as she clenched her fingers into a fist. The Evil Queen had done it. She had broken Rumplestiltskin. The gasp caught in her throat as she felt his wave of sadness roll through her. She briefly wondered why she was able to feel his pain. Why she was able to feel his pain and sadness. His anger and his regret. Yet, he could not feel her breath of life. He could not feel her calling out his name, a whisper on her lips. She cried out his name as she her eyes began to water in the corner of the tower. Clenching the fabric of her dress where her heart lay, a single tear escaped and trailed down her cheek as she leaned her head against the stone wall. His name was the last thing that crossed her lips as she closed her eyes. The smell of straw in her nose, the thick black cloak covering her body was the only comfort she sought as her heart broke along with his. Kingdoms away and with the deceptive lies told by the Evil Queen wouldn't break her. No matter what Regina put her through now, nothing would ever be as painful as the sharp agony felt in her heart as Rumplestiltskin learned of her "death." She will love him until the end of time. If she could, she would wait years for him to find her again.


End file.
